Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/312687
no holding back as far as the jokes go. They're definitely hard-hitting. Each episode of Rick and Morty has an incredible amount of variety. With different locations, characters, monsters, vehicles, robots and otherworldly machination, the show is as vast as the creators' imagina- tions. And all those elements need to have a sound. "I wish I had the time to create every ele- ment you hear in the show from scratch, but television post schedules are fast," admits Curra. He says roughly 65 percent of the sounds in the show are taken from various commercial libraries. Those sounds are com- bined, layered and processed to create a soundtrack that's not just out-of-the-box. Curra often uses the Boom Library Crea- tures library as the building blocks for the show's creatures. For example, in the "Anat- omy Park" episode, Rick and Morty go on a fantastic voyage through the body. They encounter at least 10 different creatures, which are all different diseases the body is breaking down. Each creature's disease need- ed its own treatment and voice. "You just have to work fast and use those building blocks to your benefit," Curra says. "The other 35 percent of the sound design is created from scratch because it has to be. Some elements are just too customized for library sounds to work." For those moments, Curra turns to synth software, such as the Arturia V Collection, and also Propellerhead's Reason. "The Artu- ria V Collection has great modeled synthe- sizer instruments from the 60s and 70s, and even earlier," he notes. "You kind of expect those sounds with a sci-fi approach." For plug-in processing, Curra favors SoundToys, Native Instruments and Serato's Pitch n' Time. He gives an example of how he combines synth sounds and plug-ins to cre- ate custom sound design. "In the 'Raising Gazorpazorp' episode, I had to ride pitch and filter articulations on various synths for the hovering sound of this sex robot after it transforms into an orb. On the planet Gazorpazorp, those crazy orbs were basically flying all over the place, and so I had to trace their motion," he says. Curra gives another example of custom sound design. In the "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind" episode, he had to make an entire dome full of screaming, tortured Mor- tys using only four or five good vocal takes that were at the right energy level. With the GRM Tools Freeze plug-in, Curra was able to turn that source material into what sounded like hundreds of screaming Mortys, pitched up and down, and randomized in the L and R channels. "It saved me a lot of time that would normally be spent manually pitching and pan- ning, and randomly editing and layering. There's a lot of software pieces that I would Formosa Group is located on The Lot in West Hollywood. COLORFRONT 'G2K': GPU-accelerated, high performance JPEG2000 encoder/decoder with New for 2014, the TRANSKODER OPTION FOR ON-SET DAILIES presents the highest performance mastering capabilities and automates top quality digital file conversion for motion picture and TV production studios and VFX facilities. altsystems.com | sales@altsystems.com | 818-504-6800 Key features of the TRANSKODER OPTION FOR ON-SET DAILIES 2014 include: EXTREME PERFORMANCE: faster than real-time 4K DCPs and 100+ FPS IMF encoding and decoding DCP AND IMF AUTHORING: master multi-reel, encrypted, 2D and stereo digital cinema and IMF packages ADVANCED MXF SUPPORT: Op1A and OpAtom, AS-02, AS-03, AS-11 UK DPP formats QUALITY ANALYSIS TOOLS: bitrate, PSNR, and visual comparison tools CONFORM: multi-track timeline support, with conform, re-conform, and confidence check TRANS-WRAPPING MEDIA: including QuickTime ProRes, Sony MXFs, P2, and RED 2D/3D SUBTITLING: DCI subtitle import/export, Unicode international support For more information about On-Set Dailies 2014 with Transkoder Option, contact ALT Systems, Colorfront's official distributor for the Americas.